Millennium Witch

Then, through the glass, she could see what the other person looked like.

At first glance, she appears to be a human girl dressed in adventure gear, carrying a flashlight, and exuding an adventurous vibe. However, upon closer inspection, one can discover subtle differences between her eyes and those of a human, noticeable circular seams at key points on her arms, and a luster that does not quite resemble human skin.

—This is actually a mechanical puppet.

"Hello, kind lady."

After Yvette stopped the car, the magical girl said in a tone that was neither emotional nor polite, "I am a traveler from Silver Mirror Continent. My car has run out of power and cannot start. Could you please give me a ride to the nearest sanctuary?"

Chapter 48 Mechanical Kingdom

With the car window rolled down, Yvette sat in the driver's seat, quietly watching the puppet girl below her. Her dark red eyes were devoid of joy or sorrow, and she offered no response whatsoever.

An awkward silence filled the air. The puppet girl waited a moment, then spoke again, somewhat hesitantly, "Um... kind lady, could you please give me a ride?"

“Answer a few questions and I’ll agree.” Yvette’s voice was cool and calm, revealing no emotion.

Her silence just now was actually an attempt to hack in, but unexpectedly, the girl didn't have any receiving ports on her, whether they were turned off or broken, in any case, it didn't give her a chance to infiltrate.

Then we can only try verbal communication. We don't know what attitude this seemingly self-aware mechanical puppet has towards humans.

"Okay." The puppet girl nodded readily.

“Where are the human survivors?” Yvette asked.

"Humans? Weren't they extinct a long time ago? Where would there be any survivors?" the puppet girl asked疑惑地. "You don't know?"

“I was on a very remote island, completely isolated from the world,” Yvette selectively revealed part of the truth.

"I see." The puppet girl believed it without any doubt.

Looking at the puppet girl's natural expression, Yvette narrowed her eyes, unsure whether the other was too good at hiding her emotions or simply hadn't noticed that there was a living person right in front of her.

She decided to test the waters: "What do you think I am?"

“Another robot.” The puppet girl’s tone was matter-of-fact, even carrying a hint of “Does that even need asking?”

Don't you think I look very human?

"Aren't you similar to me?" The puppet girl tilted her head and looked her over carefully for a few moments before saying, "Hmm, you are somewhat similar. Amazing. I wish I could be this similar too."

Judging from the other person's tone, being human-like is actually a good thing? Yvette was puzzled, but she didn't intend to admit it directly.

It seems that the mechanical puppets are creating a new civilization, and exposing human identities will only cause unnecessary trouble.

She then asked, "Why are they called the Mechanical Race? What about the name 'Mechanical Puppet'?"

"Isn't that our ancient name?" The puppet girl tilted her head to the other side in confusion. "Whatever you like."

"You said you came from Silver Mirror Continent, how did you cross the sea?"

“I prayed to God in the sanctuary, and God commanded the messengers of the Rift Kingdom to send me to Black Tide Continent.”

"God...who is it?"

"It's the great god of machinery. How could you not even know that? Haven't you received any divine pronouncements?" The puppet girl's tone held a hint of doubt.

"...The islands on my side are too remote."

"Oh, poor lady." The puppet girl's tone held a hint of pity. "But it's alright. With my help, you'll soon be back in God's embrace."

"...Next question, please introduce yourself."

"My name is Bingyu, a citizen of the Sky Kingdom, and a free traveler."

"The Sky Kingdom? Is that your country?"

"Yes." Bingyu nodded.

Are there any other countries?

"All I know so far are the Black Tide Kingdom, the Ember Scar Kingdom, and the Sky Rift Kingdom. This is my first time leaving Silver Mirror Continent, so I don't know anything about the other places."

Upon hearing this, Yvette fell silent, lost in thought.

The Black Tide Kingdom, the Ember Scar Kingdom, the Rift Kingdom, and the Sky Dome Kingdom to which this puppet girl named Ice Rain belongs, are clearly derived from the Black Tide Company, Ember Scar Chemical, Rift Group, and Sky Dome Technology of the Origin Civilization.

Unlike the other four super companies, these four companies all have businesses related to mechanical puppets, magical mechs, or mental cores. Among them, Sky Dome Technology and Rift Group are the strongest, followed by Black Tide Company and Ember Scar Chemical.

Could this be a mechanical puppet left behind by the four super corporations after the apocalypse, which, over the long years, developed intelligence and formed social bonds through their respective production companies?

In a sense, is this the "ethnic identity" of the machine race?

Wait, it might not be after the apocalypse...

Suddenly, Yvette recalled that more than two hundred years ago, during her second exploration of the Abyss Base, she saw log messages from maintenance personnel in the server room, which clearly recorded that the Abyss Base's main control AI, Firefly Core, had shown signs of "coming alive."

In other words, the situation of intelligent awakening already existed before the apocalypse!

At the time, she suspected that the firefly's core had mutated, but now it seems that it may have really developed self-awareness!

Given that aberration factors can infect machines during the apocalypse, how did these mechanical puppets survive the apocalypse and manage to live to this day?

Was it just luck? Coincidence?

Or perhaps, as the ultimate victors, the Machine Race also played some subtle role in the process of humanity's apocalypse?

……

"Hey, beautiful kind lady, do you have any more questions?" Seeing Yvette sitting in the car with her eyebrows furrowed and looking deep in thought, the puppet girl couldn't help but wave after waiting for several minutes.

Snapping out of her reverie, Yvette glanced at Ice Rain and said, "Get in the car."

"Oh! Thank you, kind person." Bingyu immediately got in, not even forgetting to fasten her seatbelt in the passenger seat.

Guided by the icy rain, the RV started up and slowly drove in a certain direction. After traveling about two kilometers, Yvette saw a small car parked on the side of an abandoned road.

This is a motorcycle that looks weathered, covered with welding marks and patches, clearly a cobbled-together product of countless discarded parts.

Although Yvette could directly charge the motorcycle's energy storage panel and replenish its depleted elements, she didn't want to reveal this and instead had Ice Rain tie the motorcycle to the roof of the RV herself.

Then she got back to the car and asked, "What is this sanctuary you're talking about? Where is it?"

“It’s the place to pray for help from the great god of machinery. Every kingdom has one.” Bingyu answered matter-of-factly. “I prayed before I came to Black Tide Continent. The god said there is a kingdom near this area. I can go there to resupply as soon as I land. It’s south of the ‘Ruins of Agasher’.”

"How many people typically live in a kingdom?"

“I don’t know. Our Sky Kingdom has quite a lot of people, more than a thousand,” Bingyu said, shaking her head. “Other kingdoms have very few, some only two or three hundred. But I don’t know about Black Tide Continent. I only know that there are also believers of God here, probably only a few hundred.”

More than a thousand? Two or three hundred?

Yvette was somewhat surprised. In their conversation just now, she had imagined the mechanical kingdoms as a silicon-based civilization rising from the wasteland, capable of sweeping away the mutated creatures and conquering the universe given a little time to develop...

So an entire kingdom has only this many people? What's the difference between this and a village?

No, this is actually not as good as a village, is it?

……

Driving the RV towards the nearest mechanical kingdom, after about four or five kilometers, the outline of a small town made up of ruins appeared on the horizon. And among these abandoned buildings, some figures moving slowly gradually came into view.

Only when they got closer could they see that those staggering figures were all crude, old magic puppets. Their bodies were covered with welding scars and rivet patches, their magic wires were twisted and exposed, their heavy energy storage plates were rusty, and their joints made creaking sounds as if they were about to die. Every step they took revealed the sluggishness and exhaustion of their impending demise.

"Hello, may I ask where this is?" Still sitting in the driver's seat, Yvette greeted Ice Rain warmly as she saw him get out.

Then, an old puppet with a shattered outer shell and lenses covered in huge cracks like a spider web walked over and said happily through an old loudspeaker, "This is the Agash branch of the Black Tide Kingdom. Greetings, guests from afar."

Sure enough, puppets bearing the Kuroshio Company logo would be linked together by this. Yvette wondered if this would lead to brand discrimination, such as the four major super companies being considered more prestigious, while small and medium-sized enterprises' generic puppets would be subjected to humiliation.

Then, seeing that there weren't many of these mechanical kingdom puppets, only a few dozen, and that they were very friendly, she figured there wasn't much danger and got out of the car as well.

But to her surprise, the moment she stepped down, she found that all the puppets' gazes were fixed on her as if drawn by a magnet, and they remained motionless.

Chapter 49 These tentacles are also unacceptable.

The air suddenly froze, as if even the invisible dust held its breath. Facing the gaze formed by pairs of broken cameras and bionic eyes, Yvette's face was devoid of joy or sorrow, as indifferent as a finely crafted, empty doll.

She thought, "As expected, this magical girl named Bingyu is just a little silly. Look at the other mechanical puppets, they noticed her human identity so quickly. That makes sense."

However, she didn't care. With her current strength, destroying a small village of a few dozen people made up of old, weak, sick, and disabled scrap metal robots would be a piece of cake. If a conflict were to break out, the one who should really be afraid was the other side.

But in the very next second—

"So alike...so very alike!"

"By the God of Machines, this...this is so beautiful! This lady looks exactly like a human!"

"How did she do it? Look at her natural elegance, I doubt I could ever achieve that in my entire life!"

"Could this be the legendary state of 'machine-human fusion'? Is she about to become human?"

"She must be a messenger of the gods, right?"

Exclamations of amazement came from all directions. The puppets, pieced together from discarded parts, had their camera lenses flashing intensely, looking exceptionally excited.

Yvette blinked, wondering if something was off about the script.

Her calm eyes glanced at Bingyu beside her, only to see Bingyu puff out her soft, artificial silicone face and say with a sour pout, "I think she's pretty much the same as me..."

"Gentlemen, my name is 'Elder,' and I am the executive officer of the Agasha Black Tide branch. May I ask the names of you two guests?" The old puppet, speaking through a tattered loudspeaker, walked up to Yvette, bent down with difficulty, and gave a slight bow in a somewhat unorthodox manner, appearing quite gentlemanly.

"Hello, my name is Bingyu, and I am a traveler from the Sky Kingdom!" Bingyu said politely.

“Yvette Loshivia, from a remote island, is also a traveler.” Yvette nodded slightly.

"Even her name has such an ancient feel to it!" The group of puppets who had been completely silent when Bingyu introduced herself started shouting again after hearing Yvette's introduction.

Yvette found it increasingly strange. It seemed that the mechanical puppets in this village were very fond of humans, even taking pride in imitating them... Was this a local characteristic? However, Ice Rain had previously praised her name. Did this mean that all the mechanical puppets in this world were like this?

What is the reason for this?

Spontaneous human worship?

Or is it related to that mysterious "God of Machines"?

As she pondered, the elder, who identified himself as the "executive officer" and was suspected to be the village chief of the area, warmly invited, "Since you two are passing by, please don't talk outside. Come to our reception room for some tea, how about it?"

"Drink tea..." Yvette glanced at the Elder's rusty body and the old-fashioned megaphone he used to speak, and said, "Okay."

She wanted to see what these mostly broken puppets, who lacked "mouths," really meant by "drinking tea."

Led by the elder, Yvette and Bingyu followed behind, passing countless admiring and envious gazes, and entered the interior of the Puppet Town.

Like the abandoned towns I've seen on Ish Island before, this puppet town, though dilapidated and old, has blended into the local vegetation over the years, exuding a new, vibrant green vitality.

Moreover, the puppets here seem to have a sense of cleanliness; although the ground in the middle of the path is cracked, the weeds are not growing vigorously, as if they have been trimmed. Between the gaps between the buildings overhead, dense tree canopies intertwine freely, and sunlight, like molten gold dust, forces its way through the layers of leaves, scattering fine spots of light on the ground.

The winding path led to a secluded spot, which looked quite like a paradise... Yvette walked and observed, and then saw a small patch of green grass in front of her. At the end of the grass was a building made of discarded shipping containers, which looked like a rusty pyramid with about four or five stories.

"Oh! This is your home?" Bingyu looked around curiously.

"Yes, we built them all ourselves," the elder said proudly.

“I thought you guys would just live in the human ruins,” Bingyu said.

“In the beginning, it was like that. Back then, my spiritual level wasn’t high enough. I thought that as long as I lived in a building left behind by humans, I could get close to them,” the elder said with emotion. “Later, after decades of cultivation, one day I suddenly had an epiphany… Do you know what I had an epiphany about?”

"What?" Bingyu asked in a very cooperative manner.

"I've discovered that the key to what makes humans human is their ability to be self-reliant. This is what allowed them to build such a magnificent pre-civilization from a primitive world with nothing. Our lazy behavior, on the other hand, will only distance us further from humanity. So we abandoned our original dwellings and started building our own houses. This is our result; we call them 'container apartments.' Aren't they beautiful?"

Listening to the elder's speech, Yvette looked at the simple container pyramid and couldn't see what was so appealing about it.

Bingyu was quite shocked by this. Her bionic pupils dilated slightly, her mental core operated at high speed, and she fell into a kind of enlightened silence.

"Don't crash..." Yvette couldn't help but worry as she heard the buzzing sound of her brain's core operating at full capacity.

……

The meeting room of the Puppet Town is on the first floor of the container apartment. Before entering, Yvette saw small robots jumping and playing on the upper floors of the apartment, making a lot of noise with their footsteps and roller skates.

Upon entering the somewhat cramped room, Yvette saw a wooden table and cabinets. Since it wasn't convenient for two people to move around, the Elder entered from the opposite entrance, rummaged through a nearby shelf, and took out a bag of dark brown material that appeared to be tea.

"Where did this tea come from?" Yvette asked in surprise. Although the tea leaves were definitely no longer suitable for brewing, they didn't seem to be from hundreds of years ago. They looked like they had recently become damp and moldy.

"A few years ago, when I was traveling far away, a kingdom that knew how to grow tea sold it to me," the elder said with a smile, adding with some admiration. "In order to get closer to our creators, they actually established tea gardens and learned how to grow tea. I admire their efforts greatly. It's just that it was a bit expensive. I traded many human artifacts I found in ruins for two bags of tea, and I've been reluctant to drink them."

"The Creator?" Yvette asked warily. "Humans are the Creator? Then what is the God of Machines to you?"

"God gave us souls, and humanity gave us bodies. Therefore, humanity is our creator, and the great god of machines is the god we worship." The elder was a little puzzled. "This doesn't seem to contradict anything. Does our honored guest have any concerns about this?"

“I was presumptuous. The place I came to before was quite remote, without even a sanctuary,” Yvette said.

"Hey, kind lady, how come you're acting like an illiterate person?" Bingyu whined from the side. "Why don't you ask me first next time? Otherwise, I'll be too embarrassed to say that you're with me."